REVIEW: ‘The Apothecary Diaries’ Episode 31 — “The Shrine of Choosing”

The Apothecary Diaries Episode 31, “The Shrine of Choosing,” sees a rare moment of calm settle over the Rear Palace after recent events. Even as the quiet continues, Maomao (Aoi Yûki) soon finds herself unable to enjoy it when the Emperor (Daichi Endô) requests her presence. He and Jinshi (Takeo Otsuka) are going to pass through the Shrine of Choosing, and he wishes for her to accompany them.

This episode’s opening is unusual. Beginning with a dream, The Apothecary Diaries Episode 31 introduces a new element to the story. The dream depicts a young man having a confusing interaction with some older individuals. When the dreamer awakens, we learn that Jinshi is the child in the dream. Troubled by the unsettling moment, Jinshi decides to practice his sword skills to clear his head.

Jinshi’s disturbance is understandable, even before the importance of the dream is explained. The visuals craft a strong sense of unsettlement within the dreams visuals. Sunken eyes wrapped in shadows give an undead element to the people young Jinshi interacts with. An utterly haunting sight for a child.

By contrast, Jinshi’s practice session feels like the polar opposite. Bathed in the cool blue light of the moon, Jinshi’s actions feel smooth and at peace. The presentation makes it perfectly clear why he would retreat to this space to clear his mind.

Jinshi’s mind is troubled, and it never quite abates.

As Jinshi grapples with the lingering reminder of his past, he wonders if Maomao has already begun to guess at his long-concealed secret. He hopes she has, as he wishes to share his burden with her, the trusted and loyal friend she has become.

This opening sequence is excellently crafted at the moment but comes across as jarring when put in context. Jinshi is a well-established character. If he has these deep-rooted struggles that go back to his childhood, it seems odd that they have not cropped up before. Some hints of something bothering him in previous episodes would make this reveal feel less random. This randomness takes away from the skill of the presentation.

Leaving Jinshi in his loneliness, The Apothecary Diaries Episode 31 jumps to Maomao as she observes one of the classes going on at the new vocational school. She listens in as the students learn about the mythology of how their nation was founded. The eagerness to learn is apparent within the scene, despite Xiaolan (Misaki Kuno, Lycoris Recoil) looking a touch bored with the current lesson.

When the lesson concludes, Xiaolan invites Maomao to visit the school teacher after class. That Xiaolin is voluntarily looking for extra work confirms her enthusiasm for her studies, showing that her momentary boredom earlier was fleeting.

Maomao’s desire to learn takes over, but first, there’s a mission…

As Maomao chats with the instructor, she notices a strange-looking building. The instructor informs her the building is The Shrine of Choosing and lays out its history and purpose for her. Maomao also discovers that the instructor knew her father back when he served the Rear Palace as a doctor. These tidbits prove mildly intriguing but are signs of larger problems for the episode to come.

From here, the story jumps back to the Jade Pavilion, where we find the Emperor dining with Lady Gyokuyô (Atsumi Tanezaki, Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End). Joing just as Maomao wraps up her duties as a taste tester, she prepares to depart. Still, she is interrupted when the Emperor informs her that he wants her to accompany him later. She humbly accepts, curious as to what need the Emperor could have for her.

This scant, fifteen-second scene ends just to jump back to the Shrine of Choosing. It turns out that Maomao is to accompany his majesty and Jinshi as they make their way through the shrine. This rapid back and forth leaves this section of the episode feeling poorly thought out. There had to be a more elegant way to have the Emperor recruit Maomao than jumping back to the Jade Pavilion just to immediately return.

The Shrine of Choosing is aptly named, as it presents those passing through with a series of choices concerning which of several color-coded doors to pass through. If the right choices are made, the journey ends on a triumphant balcony. Anything else leads to a dead end.

The Apothecary Diaries Episode 31 struggles to be entertaining this go-round.

Much like the earlier information shared between Maomao and the instructor who now leads the group through the Shrine, what is learned about the shrine, the nature of the choices it presents, and why it works as it’s supposed to be mildly compelling. Unfortunately, these elements occupy the entirety of the episode’s body, resulting in a mildly entertaining episode.

Not even Maomao’s brilliant deductions about how the shrine works bring life to the story. The revelations are nothing exciting, and the level of intricacy in the explanation is par for the course where Maomao is concerned. Of course, as the group navigates the shrine, there are brief spurts of dialogue among them. These moments are fine, but with the Emperor present, Jinshi and Maomao never open up with their usual uptempo banter. Leaving even these moments of interaction feeling rather lifeless.

As The Apothecary Diaries Episode 31 comes to a close, Maomao begins to turn her sharp mind to a different topic. Why was Jinshi with them? She finds it hard to believe it’s as simple as Jinshi being the Emperor’s favorite servant but soon dismisses the idea, concluding that some things are better left alone. This clearly harkens back to the episode’s opening.

The Apothecary Diaries Episode 31 delivers a bland entry. For a series known for dazzling with colorful characters and gorgeous visuals, it manages to abandon all of those things after an interesting intro in favor of a slow, plodding journey through boring halls and color-coded doors.

The Apothecary Diaries Episode 31 is streaming now on Crunchyroll.